Bentley Speed 8 Le Mans 24Hr Winner - Limited Edition Giclee Print With COA

In 2003, the Bentley Speed 8 delivered one of the most complete performances in modern Le Mans history: a 1-2 finish that ended a 73-year wait for an outright Bentley victory. 

The #7 car of Rinaldo Capello, Tom Kristensen and Guy Smith won after 377 laps, covering a then-record distance at an average of 214.33 km/h. The sister #8 car of Mark Blundell, David Brabham and Johnny Herbert finished two laps behind. Works Audis were absent that year, leaving only privateer R8s, which the Bentleys comfortably outpaced. 

The 2003 Speed 8 was a ground-up redesign by Peter Elleray at Racing Technology Norfolk, not just a facelift of the 2001–02 EXP Speed 8. It used a carbon-fibre monocoque, revised aerodynamics (especially around the front diffuser and roof), and a 4.0-litre twin-turbo Audi-derived V8 producing around 600–615 hp and 800 Nm, restricted per ACO rules. Weight was about 900 kg. Top speed was in the 215–217 mph range. 

Reliability was extraordinary. The winning car spent just 17 unscheduled seconds in the pits over 24 hours—an unmatched figure at the time. It started from pole (set by Capello) and led almost the entire race. This was also the last overall Le Mans win for a closed-cockpit prototype until Peugeot in 2009. 

The programme was a three-year VW Group project to restore Bentley’s Le Mans heritage (they had won five times in the 1920s). After the 2003 1-2, Bentley withdrew from prototype racing. Kristensen later called it “the most beautiful” car to win Le Mans. 

The distinctive British Racing Green closed-cockpit shape, with its raised nose, deep front valleys and high rear wing, remains one of the most striking Le Mans cars of the early 2000s.